Topic: Anyone tell me anything about this Strathearn?

[Leni]

Thank you, Kevin  :hug: 
But I would love to know more about how you decide if a weight is 'transitional'!  :huh:  What time period would that be?  I admit I really haven't taken much notice of Vasart / Strathearn and dates so far.  I must explore your excellent website more thoroughly! 

And yes, I can see your weight and mine both have 'crabstick' canes round the edge!     

[KevinH]

In this context "transitional" means anything that was made in the few years before or after 1964 and assumes that styles and working methods would not have changed much over those years.

More specifically, for me at least, it means anything that does not easily fit into a "look and feel" of either a known Vasart (56 to 64) or Strathearn (64 to 80), but is clearly from one of those companies. In making a judgement, I compare the features to those I have seen in weights that are signed or labelled or have some other form of provenance.

Problem is, the more I see, the more I realise that some of the design or finishing clues can apply to both companies and possibly for a longer period before and after the 64 changeover date. So, in simpler terms it's a case of, "It could be either, but I ain't sure".

When exploring my web pages, please note that there are some things that need an update. Such as this weight which, in the light of extra info, I believe is an early Perthshire Paperweights and not Strathearn. I must get around to those updates one day (hmmm, I seem to keep saying that ).

[Frank]

Vasart closed down the Shore Works on the 26th December 1964.

On January 22nd, 1965, the Strathearn glass factory opened at Muthill Road, Crieff, with Vincent Ysart as works manager. Strathearn was the first glassworks in Europe to fire its furnaces with propane gas. Later the same year, Vincent left the factory to work as a filing clerk for GAFLAC (General Accident, Fire & Life Assurance Company) in Perth until he died in 1971, following a fall from a ladder at work.

The staff were the same and work just continued, all that changed was location, name and management. It was some time before Strathearn evolved to completely it's own products and materials - this is called the transitional period... so 1965 to 1968 (ish) is likely period when significant Vasart period canes would be used.

The use of propane gas appears to have had no noticeable change in the glass but the use of the Leaping Salmon seal did. Blowing the glass to the thickness used at Vasart gave insufficient strength to use the seal and as a consequence Strathearn gllassware would be made thicker. Which is the easiest way of recognising unmarked Strathearn (with ground off seal and added basal ring) - obviously the thicker glass weights did not need any compensation.

It is therefore likely that weights made to fill an order on the 26th December 1964 and those made a month later to complete such an order would be indistinguishable without a label. If the batch had Pirelli labels, then Pirelli labels would have been on those made at Strathearn too.

In time it is likely that different glass chemistry and sources of colours would change.

[Frank]

Snap.

Except Kevin also allows for vagueness to apply to before the move! I disagree mildly.

[Leni]

Thanks, Kevin and Frank  :hiclp: 

I'm intrigued at this confusion between Strathearn and Perthshire weights, which both Richard and Kev have noted.  I wonder if anyone is able to explain this to me?  Is there a person or persons who worked at both glasshouses and made canes at both, or took canes from one to the other?  Who might that be?  Do we know? 

The more I learn, the more I'm amazed at how much I still don't know!   

[Frank]

Stuart Drysdale remained as manager of Strathearn until February 1968 when, in his words, he was ‘forced to leave’. He went on to set up Perthshire Paperweights, mainly producing millefiori and lampwork paperweights. He took Jack Allan and a few others with him including Peter McDougall and John Deacons.

Companies: http://www.ysartglass.com/Ysart/YGcompany.htm (staff incomplete)
People: http://www.ysartglass.com/Ysart/YGpeople.htm

[Leni]

Frank, that's fascinating!  Thank you very much!   :hiclp: 

So the first 'Perthshire' paperweight canes could have been made by any (or all?) of Jack Allan, Peter McDougall or John Deacons, I suppose.   I wonder if they would recognise their own work today from those early weights?  I knew about Peter McDougall and think I can recognise his canes in Perthshire weights, but I simply hadn't realised that John Deacons and Jack Allan were also involved at the beginning of Perthshire.  I would really love to know exactly which canes were whose!   I must look again, more closely, at all my millefiori weights! 

[glasstrufflehunter]

I have a lot of Perthshire and McDougall millefiori in my cabinet. That center cane looks like it was made in the same cane molds McDougall uses today. I know I've seen canes like that center group in a Perthshire, probably a closepack. I will have to search through my collection with a magnifying glass to find them

[Frank]

Jack was the top gaffer, he started under Salvador in 1948 so had 20 years behind him at that point - certainly missing from the lists is Dave Moir who started at Vasart in 1954 and left when Stuart took over Strathearn.

[Leni]

Did Dave Moir pull canes as well, Frank?